49ers say Reuben Foster will not participate in offseason program

49ers say Reuben Foster will not participate in offseason program

Linebacker Reuben Foster, who faces three felony charges including domestic violence, will not take part in the 49ers’ offseason conditioning program, the club announced Sunday evening.

The 49ers open their offseason program on Monday at the club's training facility in Santa Clara. A joint statement from CEO Jed York, general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan read:

"Reuben Foster will not participate in team activities as he is tending to his legal matters. As previously stated, his future with the team will be determined by the information revealed during the legal process."

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office on Thursday announced its charges against Foster, stemming from a Feb. 11 incident involving a woman described as his live-in girlfriend:

The DA’s office announced three felony charges:--Domestic violence with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury;--Forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime;--Possession of an assault weapon (a Sig Sauer 516).

Foster is also charged with one misdemeanor:--Possession of large capacity weapon magazine.

If convicted of those crimes, Foster faces more than 11 years in prison, according to the DA’s office.

According to the DA’s office, the alleged victim flagged down a stranger’s car driving on Shannon Road in Los Gatos to call police. She told responding officers that Foster dragged her by her hair, physically threw her out of the house, and punched her in the head eight to 10 times. She was bruised and sustained a ruptured ear drum, according to the DA’s office.

"It’s difficult when you have the league doing investigations. It’s hard for teams to do investigations, but you want to try to find out as much detail and as much information as you can," York said in an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area and The Athletic. "But when you’re dealing with legal issues, it’s just a very, very gray area. So you want to try to get as much information as you can.

"But, I think ultimately, you want to take a step back and say, ‘How do you help 53 guys? How do you make sure that (there are) life skills training? Just the experience we’ve seen, and we’ve certainly seen a lot at the 49ers and you see it across the league, how do you help these guys not make the same mistakes that other people have made?"

Foster has visited the 49ers' workout facility for most of the offseason for his personal workouts. The organization could still allowed to provide him with support and assistance, but he will not take part in meetings or organized workouts at the beginning of the offseason program. The official offseason program runs through a three-day minicamp scheduled for June 12-14.

Kendrick Bourne says Nick Bosa would be 'icing on the cake' for 49ers

Kendrick Bourne says Nick Bosa would be 'icing on the cake' for 49ers

The 49ers are reportedly having dinner with former Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa on Wednesday night, and it appears one of their wide receivers is fully on board with the idea of Bosa in a San Francisco uniform, if that's the direction the 49ers choose to go with the second overall pick in next month's draft.

Kendrick Bourne took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to voice his support for how he views Bosa fitting in with the rest of the 49ers' current defensive line.

After acquiring Dee Ford in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, the additional inclusion of Bosa would give San Francisco not one, but two superior edge rushers to what they put on the field last season. The 49ers' biggest need entering the offseason was improving their pass rush, and drafting Bosa would go a long way towards accomplishing that goal.

Wednesday's reported dinner will not be the first time San Francisco's brass has met with Bosa. General manager John Lynch previously met Bosa in Pasadena ahead of last year's Rose Bowl. The 49ers also met with the talented pass rusher at last month's NFL Scouting Combine.

49ers GM John Lynch believes free agency work set team up for NFL draft

49ers GM John Lynch believes free agency work set team up for NFL draft

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Through the first wave of NFL free agency, 49ers general manager John Lynch said he believes the club has set up itself for the next month's draft.

“In terms of what we did, it gave us flexibility,” Lynch told NBC Sports Bay Area on Wednesday at Ohio State’s Pro Day. “We had some ideas of areas where we had to get better. And what we did gave us flexibility to just focus on going out and getting the best player available, particularly with that top spot, regardless of the position.”

The 49ers own the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. Lynch and vice president of player personnel Adam Peters spent the past two days getting to better know two of the top candidates for the 49ers’ first-round selection.

“He’s a great kid and a tremendous player,” Lynch said of the meeting with Williams. “I enjoyed it.”

Lynch first met Bosa in Pasadena when he attended an Ohio State practice before Rose Bowl. Bosa withdrew from school in November to focus on his rehabilitation from core muscle surgery. Bosa was working out in Southern California and came by to support his former teammates when he met Lynch. The 49ers also met with Bosa last month at the NFL Scouting Combine.

“He’s a good kid,” Lynch said of Bosa. “We’re looking forward to spending more time with him.”

Lynch said the 49ers have not compiled their list of 30 official pre-draft visits, but Williams and Bosa appear to be strong candidates to make a visit to Santa Clara before the draft, too.

Neither Williams nor Bosa worked out at their pro days, opting to stand on their results from the combine. Kentucky outside linebacker Josh Allen, whose pro day is Friday, will also not work out. Lynch and Peters will not attend Kentucky’s pro day.

“Most of the top guys aren’t working out, especially if they did well at the combine,” Lynch said. “But you have an opportunity to come sit with them and talk with them.

“I think it’s good to be out for a number of reasons. The schools we visited the last couple of days, Alabama and Ohio State, I don’t think they’re going anywhere. They’re going to be producing players, so it’s good to continue to foster those relationships that we can help them and they can help us. And it’s really invaluable to just spend time with these guys.”

Lynch said the 49ers are still in the preliminary process of putting together their draft strategy with the No. 2 overall pick. Bosa, Williams and Allen are the prohibitive favorites.

“We’ve done a lot of work on those guys,” Lynch said. “We’ve done a lot of work on the entire draft class, but it really gets hyper-focused now. We’ve condensed a lot of the information. Now the coaches come up and we put it all together.”

Part of the puzzle for the team's plan for the draft was the first week of the NFL free-agent signing period. The 49ers signed starting linebacker Kwon Alexander and acquired starting defensive end Dee Ford in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 49ers also added potential starters at cornerback with Jason Verrett and safety with the re-signing of Jimmie Ward. The signing of wide receiver Jordan Matthews gives the 49ers a needed veteran presence to compete for significant playing time.

Lynch acknowledged the 49ers are rolling the dice on Verrett, a first-round draft pick in 2014 who has appeared in just 25 games in five seasons due to a variety of injuries.

“We recruited him hard because there were a number of people that were interested, and we’re glad we landed him,” Lynch said of Verrett. “You’re always thinking risk-reward. The potential reward with that one is pretty special. He’s made of the right stuff. We just got to see if we can help him and he can find a way to stay healthy.”